In recent years, hospitals and health care facilities have dealt with increasing incidents of patient identity confusion, miscommunication among caregivers regarding treatment, and incorrect blood and drug administration as a result of the failures of existing identification devices. These problems have become so pervasive that the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has called a National Patient Safety Goals Conference to convey the gravity of the situation, provide guidance and attempt to reduce such healthcare problems.
Such problems arise because existing identification (ID) bands fail to address several common issues. Patients, doctors, nurses or anyone can easily remove current ID bands. For example, patients cut or tear off the bands when they feel uncomfortable. As a result, doctors and nurses cannot identify the patient in an emergency. Moreover, this increases costs by requiring replacements and decreases healthcare workers' efficiency by adding additional administrative duties.
In addition, doctors and hospital workers also remove these ID bands even when it is unnecessary to do so. In fact, they cut the bands merely for their own convenience during insertion of intravenous or intra-arterial catheters or during surgery. Unauthorized removals result in wasted resources spent for replacement and a waste of time spent for identifying and reacquiring a new bracelet.
Furthermore, doctors routinely remove the ID bands prior to procedures involving extremities or when blood flow to an extremity is compromised by swelling related to inflammation, burn or edema. When the procedure is completed they are inadvertently not reattached or cannot be reattached. Since current devices have no means to indicate that they have been removed or to indicate their location, they are lost or forgotten. This is disastrous in situations where patients subsequently require urgent medical attention. Doctors and hospital workers cannot identify the patients quickly without the bands especially when the patient is disoriented or unconscious. In addition, the patients may not be able to identify themselves in such situations as after surgery or during an emergency. Therefore, patients do not receive potentially life-saving or appropriate therapies or treatment such as the wrong blood units or medications that are contra-indicated due to allergy.
Finally, new treatment devices require the presence of the correct patient identification system to initiate treatment. For example, new blood administration devices will not allow administration of the blood without the correct identification code on an ID band. As a result, patients do not receive their medications or transfusions at the required times. In order to address such issues, the JCAHO placed improved patient identification as its number one priority for 2003.
The present invention discloses a system which solves or at least substantially reduces the impact of these problems associated with existing bands in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
It is one object of the invention to provide a bracelet that is difficult to remove unless removal is authorized. This object is achieved with an identification bracelet that is comprised of material resistant to cutting or tearing, thereby avoiding the problems associated with the easily removable nature of existing bands.
It is another object of the invention to prevent bracelet removal with the use of a lock. Thus, the present invention cannot be removed without an unlocking mechanism thereby saving resources and time.
It is further an object of one embodiment of the invention that the lock on the identification bracelet can only be unlocked by an unlocking device selectively separate from the identification bracelet. As such, removal without a unlocking mechanism on the unlocking device is further prevented.
It is yet another object of the invention to include a patient identifying mechanism on the identification bracelet. Various identification mechanisms may be placed on the bracelet, such as a magnetic marker, a printed sticker or an imprinted/embedded member. In the preferred form of the invention, a barcode system is used.
It is a still further object of another embodiment of the invention to provide a device to determine the duration of disengagement of the identification bracelet from the patient. The present invention solves the problems associated with lost or forgotten bands as previously discussed.
It is yet another object of an embodiment of the invention to provide a device to alert doctors, nurses and other workers that the identification bracelet has been disengaged (i.e. removed from the patient) and for the device to hold the bracelet until it is reattached. Various devices may be utilized, such as an alarm connected to the disengagement duration timer or the lock. This also addresses the loss or misplacement problems associated with current bands.
It is an additional object of another embodiment of the invention to provide a display device on the unlocking device to show various information. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various display devices, such as, LED, TFT or OLED screens may be placed on the unlocking device. The display device can show identification bracelet disengagement duration as well as patient specific information. Hence, a patient can be accurately identified and appropriate care can be given quickly.
The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more readily appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention when taken together with the accompanying drawings of the present invention.